In an update pushed to the Fortnite platform just yesterday, Epic supplied players with two new ‘Siphon’ Augments – unlockable abilities that give players the opportunity to drain health and shields from their opponents.
However, just hours after the update, Epic was forced to strip one of the Augments – Shotgun Striker – from the game, disabling it amidst claims that it was hilariously broken. With the Siphon Shotgun in hand, players could farm unlimited amounts of health and shields from their own teammates, allowing them to essentially live forever if they played their cards right.
Another Broken Element
In December, fans were up in arms when Deku’s Smash was removed from the game owing to back-end issues that were impacting the power-up. Then, just over a week ago, the ever-so-controversial Shockwave Hammer was removed from the game before being re-added and nerfed considerably.
Now, the third item in as many weeks has been removed, even if it’s just a temporary measure while Epic fixes things behind the scenes. It makes us question how rigorous the testing process is at Epic, but that’s not for us to worry about, right?
Before the Shotgun Striker Augment was removed, players could use it to boost their health and shields by shooting their own teammates – which wasn’t the original, desired effect of the upgrade. Typically, the Siphon Shotgun would be used against an enemy player, with each hit draining their health and shields and passing it on to whoever was wielding said shotgun.
In Fortnite, you can’t shoot your teammates and deal damage, but the Shotgun Striker Augment – which is unlocked at random throughout the game – still delivered that boost of health and shields to whoever was using it.
It was YouTuber NRG Aussie Antics who publicised the issue with the Shotgun Striker Augment on Twitter:
As the Siphon Shotgun was added to competitive playlists, it made sense for Epic to urgently strip it from the game entirely while work was done to fix it.
What’ll be the next broken asset to launch in Fortnite?
For more Insider Gaming news, check out our coverage of the report that a new Nintendogs mobile game may be in development.
